C (2:32)
Yeah. So I think backing up a little bit. I know your podcast has some earlier. I love, like, the fundamental episodes, like these are the types of documents that you might draft in your estate plan. And a lot of people assume that estate planning is who gets what when I die, where in reality, it's not just who gets what, but who does what, and not just when I die, but even while I'm alive. So starting off with the durable or financial power of attorney, this is a document that only exists and really has any power during life. Even before we dive into some of the documents and processes. Back In January of 2021, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. And they knew that she probably didn't have that many months left. I know that cancer is not something that you wish on anyone, but there was kind of this silver lining of at least we kind of had an idea, hey, it's time to plan. A lot of people put into these roles of agent for power of attorney or as independent executor, it's kind of like sprung upon them as like a. Oh, by the way, now you're having to do this. And probably the time when you're most emotionally, mentally, behaviorally, like, not in a good place to be doing anything moving, you know, anything transactional. So by her being diagnosed with that illness and maybe having just a few months to live, I had already completed the CFP education program. So I already had a good amount of experience and fundamental knowledge of how this worked. And I cannot imagine how difficult this would be with somebody who, like, what's probate? Right? They're like, surprise. You had this new role. So we had an amazing opportunity, kind of the silver lining for me to step in, actually, even before we, you know, before I was agent for power of return, even before executor, I was able to talk discuss with my grandmother and the idea that she had estate documents drafted, like her last will. We'll talk about that. But she had listed her very common thing. She listed her. Her oldest, you know, her oldest child, her oldest adult child as the primary, you know, agent for power of attorney, you know, financial and medical, and also for executor. And, you know, she. She probably didn't think through. I mean, she's like, I want to, you know, oldest, oldest child. That's probably the most fair. But she didn't really Think about location. She didn't think about, you know, you know, their knowledge versus other knowledge. By the way, my aunt who was listed initially, like she could have figured this out. But you know, me being a grandson definitely wasn't first online in terms of age, but I actually had the most education in this area. So she ended up together. Again, not manipulative, but in her best interest, we went to an estate attorney. We drafted a new power of attorney, new last will, right, to make sure that during life, whether incapacitated or not, we'll talk about springing versus immediate power of attorney, maybe a little bit too. But we effectively wanted to put it in place where even before she passed away, I could help facilitate and help with her estate plan even while she was still alive. So the financial power of attorney effectively gave me the appointed me as agent to act for her for various powers during life, such as the authority to make banking and investing transactions. And again, this is different from the medical power of returning attorney, making medical decisions, by the way, that still remained as one of her daughters who lived nearby making those medical decisions. But I was able to help. You know, the things that I did as power of attorney or as agent was I changed beneficiary designations on retirement accounts. Again, keep in mind, I was doing it in her best interest. I wasn't just saying, oh, I want to make sure I get all the money when she passes away. That was actually using intentional tax. I was actually using an intentional tax planning to tactics to say, okay, who might inherit certain things and what financial weight class are they in? Are they in their highest earning years or did they just graduate college with low income? So, you know, legally, as agent, I was able to change some beneficiary designations, change account titling, so that when she did pass away, her estate planning would be simplified and really benefiting her beneficiaries as much as possible. Also, there was the one big thing I did that people don't think about is she had an auto lease. And people don't understand usually that an auto lease doesn't die with the owner of the car or the leaser of the car, whatever that word is. Before she passed away, I intentionally. It was January of that year. I wanted to at least fill up the standard deduction, which effectively is free gross income. So I filled up the standard deduction, 10% and 12% marginal brackets by taking an IRA distribution and using that money, I was able to pay off her auto lease. Because what I did want to happen is then she'd pass away and then I'd be stuck with this auto lease and not be able to actually do anything about it until receiving the death certificate and potentially having to go through some administrative things. So I'll just back up a little bit and say that the power of attorney effectively just gave me the ability to help her with her money while she was still alive. And the last thing there is, we made this, what is called an immediate power of attorney, which meant we did not have to wait till she was incapacitated and unable to make her own decisions, have a doctor sign off and all that. We made up these documents so that I could immediately act for her as if I were her going to the bank and going to these other institutions.